As much as I like to travel and experience new opportunities, new scenes and new people, it is always great to come home.  As long and hard as the winter of 2018-19 seemed, I couldn't resist painting just one snow landscape.  After being out for a morning walk, I waited until the sun was well up and casting some nice long shadows.  Being a whimp, I took photos.  When I had selected just the composition I wanted, I headed to my heated studio to paint this view of my back landscape. 

This work is created with: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Sennelier, Richeson and Great American pastel.

This work is created on: Pastel Premier pastel paper

On further exploration of the St. Kitts Botanical Gardens, I found these delightful Dolphins cavorting in another water garden.  Notice the water is not crystal clear and blue.  If the water is not being agitated, the heat and sunlight cause the skimming over of green plant-life, I would call it scum.  I'm sure that is not a scientific term! But I liked the Dolphins well enough to overlook the scummy pond and thought it worthy of my pastels.

This work is created with: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Sennelier, Richeson and Great American pastel.

This work is created on: Art Spectrum pastel paper

Looking at my subject matter it isn't hard to tell that I am still not painting locally.  But when the opportunity presents itself, I paint what is around me. Here I am visiting the Island of St. Kitts on a beautiful, sun filled day in December.  Taking the ferry over from Nevis, we planned a visit to the Island's much acclaimed Botanical Gardens.  Fairview Great House, the Garden's prominent building is nestled at the foot of the  Olivees Mountain. It is believed to have been built by the French in 1701.  All around it were lush greens.  But I was drawn to the water gardens. I found the long discarded sugar kettles from the Islands ancient sugar plantations too interesting to pass up. 

This work is created with: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Sennelier, Richeson and Great American pastel.

This work is created on: Wallace professional pastel paper.

Continuing to work on my St. Augustine series, I returned to the "Old City". The afternoon light was fading, but I was drawn to the shadow and light patterns accented by the colorful flags.  In this painting, as in the painting that led this series, the whole of the city was adorned with color buntings, banners and flags all commemorating the visit of the King and Queen of Spain.  

This work is created with: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Sennelier, Richeson and Great American pastel.

This work is created on: Wallace Professional pastel paper.

While visiting St. Augustine's Lightner Museum, I spied this charming courtyard built in the Spanish Renaissance style.  Most visitors were delighting in the museum itself filled with antiquities, mostly American Gilded Age pieces, housed within the historic Hotel Alcazar building. The collections were lovely but I was charmed by the architecture and surrounding courtyard. The Museum/Hotel was built by Henry Morrison Flagler in 1888 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

This work is created with: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Sennelier, Richeson, and Great American pastel.

This work is created on: Pastel Premier (mounted) paper

Working on a series of St. Augustine studio paintings, I turned my attention to the  designated Old City. Usually teeming with crowds, this particular day there were few people around. I enjoy compositions that allow the viewer to enter my painting and look around visually-moving from front to back.  Believe it or not I had to add the two pedestrians because the painting called for some sense of life.  

This work is created with: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Sennelier, Richeson and Great American pastel.

This work is created on: Wallace Professional (mounted) pastel paper

Studio painting 11" x 14" pastel 

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On another trip, (this time in the spring) to St. Augustine I had it in my mind to paint the Bridge of Lions which spans the Intercoastal Waterway between downtown St. Augustine and Anastasia Island.  But on this trip the weather was cloudy and windy and I had to again rely on photos for reference.  This lovely bridge was constructed in 1927 and the entrance boasts a pair of marble Medici lions. In 2010 Roads & Bridges magazine named the Bridge of Lions as fourth in the nation's top ten bridges.   

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So I thought it appropriate that I post this studio pastel painting I created of the wonderful pageantry we witnessed in St. Augustine, "Marching On..."

On Christmas visits we typically like to spend some time in the oldest continually occupied settlement of European origin in the contiguous United States, St. Augustine, Florida. The city was founded by the Spanish conquistadors in 1565. During one of our visits, the King and Queen of Spain were there to celebrate the city's founding and I took several photos. Quite to my dismay the City does not allow plein air painting on its historic city streets - what a disappointment! But I was happy to have the opportunity to see all the pageantry in person!

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This work is created with: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Sennelier, Richeson and Great American pastel.

This work is created on: Wallace professional pastel paper (mounted)